Finance committee  Thank you.

Finance committee  Good evening, Mr. Chair. Actually there were studies done with respect to the potential traffic diversion. That study is part of a business case that, as you know, is now confidential because we have started the procurement process. It is very important that we keep it confidential at this stage, because it will affect of course the bids, the competitive bids that will be coming in.

Transport committee  Chair, with reference to the analysis, that information is still confidential at this stage, so we cannot make it public. It will be made public once the project agreement is signed. Rest assured, however, that we are working on refining the models. We are working with partners.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, as I stated earlier, we have undertaken studies to support the business case that we tabled for the purposes of building a new bridge. We continue to collect information in order to make projections. Furthermore, we are working with our partners, like the province, but also with other stakeholders, in order to get a better projection of overall traffic mobility in the Greater Montreal region.

Transport committee  Mr. Chairman, I will answer in general terms, and then I'll ask Mr. Brazeau to add to my answers. The first one is looking at the toll rates in the greater Montreal area. Two autoroutes, the 25 and the 30, are toll roads. We are looking at the way the toll system is working there, and how the rate was established.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, we do have information. It is preliminary. It's part of the business case, and the business case provided sufficient information for the government to move ahead with the project as a public-private partnership. In the process, given the fact that we want the private bidder for this project to be the best possible value for money—

Transport committee  It is being written.

Transport committee  It is being written. The team is working full-time.

Transport committee  In July 2014, so in a couple of months. We have now achieved the first stage, which is the request for qualification.

Transport committee  I will have to turn to Marc Brazeau for that.

Transport committee  We are assessing that information right now. I can ask Mr. Brazeau to—

Transport committee  The toll rate has not been set yet. We are still looking at scenarios. We're also looking at the toll rates that are used around the greater Montreal area. That's part of the study right now, Mr. Chair.

Transport committee  In terms of traffic projections, we are collecting more specific data on the Champlain Bridge, but we are also going to be dealing with regional planning with all our partners. In terms of collaboration with the stakeholders, I can give you facts such as the number of meetings we have held and the way in which the discussions have evolved.

Transport committee  There are two parts to your question. In terms of the first part, I would like to point out that to date there have been 200 meetings with various partners, including representatives of the Quebec government, the municipalities, the cities of Brossard, Longueuil and Montreal, as well as with private partners such as the chambers of commerce.

Transport committee  Mr. Chair, the Champlain Bridge and the new bridge for the St. Lawrence is the only instance in Canada where the federal government owns a bridge that is located within a province—an intraprovincial bridge. Given the fact that normally an infrastructure of this type would belong to the provincial government, we want to ensure in this case that in building the bridge and in accelerating the construction of the bridge, we do have the authority and control over the bridge so that we can go ahead without any delays, given that we want to have a new bridge in operation in 2018.